A New Dolly

A month or so ago I came across a gorgeous wee dolls pattern. It is from Olive-Ann Designs, a designer in America. I couldn't resist for two reasons. One, I thought the doll was very cool and two, she came with patterns for clothes... and the clothes match the little girls patterns! Double cool.

When the pattern arrived, I shared it with Macie. "Oh that's cute Mummy," she said. I asked her which colour hair she would like her doll to have. "Purple." was the response. Hmmmm. Ok, lets go to the shops and get what we need I suggested.

Off we toddled together.. Oh what fun. She was seriously focused on this little project. I was totally impressed at how certain she was in her colour choices (that changed 3 times) until she had made her final choice. We moved from purple, to maroon to black. Black it is. Then we had to choose lip and eye colour. I managed to pursuade her that purple eyes weren't quite the thing and that blue would look very pretty. Pink lips, of course... and the hair ribbons.... PUPRLE. No dilly dallying over that choice. She was right on the purple like a shot. I love the conviction that a two and a half year old has when they are happy with their choice.

We paid, and were given our goodies in a little black plastic bag. The bag didn't leave her hands for a whole 4 hours I am sure.

That evening I searched You Tube for embroidery stitches to make the doll's face. In the morning I showed her. She carried that face around inside a zip lock bag for the day. It went for walks in the buggy, slept in the dolls cot and became Macie's little doll. One evening at sew club I cut out two little outfits using material that Macie has clothes in also.

After sewing the body and attaching the face this doll got to sit at the table (pre-stuffing) and watch Maisy Mouse on DVD. I managed to keep her out of bed that night to stuff her and start her hair. She sat on the table for 2-3 nights with a fringe. And tonight, I finished her hair... Here she is waiting for her new Mummy Macie to wake up in the morning.

Our next challenge is to think of a name for this doll. Macie, I think has "Dolly" in mind. I think it suits her. "Dolly" has been lots of fun to create. I look forward to adding to her wardrobe as I add to Macie's this coming winter. A xx

Mock up Mocka Bag

Macie has a new bike. We won it off Trade me on Sunday and picked it up today. In the process of finding out about the bike, we saw one on the Mocka site that had a little bag on the front to carry your little dolls or a drink bottle... she wanted one.

Today after collecting the bike we headed to spotlight to choose some fabric to make the bag with. Oh what fun that was... checking out fabric with mini me. She was soooo cute. "Mummy look at this, this is cute. Oh Mummy I like this can we take it home...."

Macie chose cute strawberries. And this is what we made together this afternoon..

 It is only a small pouch.. big enough to fit her Strawberry shortcake dolls or her spotty dog.. Not really suitable for her baby doll but she loves it anyway.

If you're keen to know how I made it ... check out the tutorial below. ;)

Mock Up Mocka Bag

You will need

• about 25 cm across the bolt of your chosen fabric
• medium weight interfacing (I use iron on)

Cut:
Two rectangles of your chosen fabric 8"x 14 1/2"
Two circles of your chosen fabric 4 1/2" in diametre
Four straps 5  1/2" x 3"

NB: Seam allowance is 1/4"

1. Iron one rectangle and one circle onto your interfacing

(The straps are in this pic but are not interfaced)

2. Take one of your rectangles and with right sides together, sew down the short edges forming a tube.
Press open the seam. Repeat with other rectangle. Leave tubes inside out.

3. Take the interfaced circle piece. Place over the end of the interfaced tube. The right side of the fabric will be facing into the tube. Pin the circle in place. I found it helpful to mark the tube and the circle with 1/4 marks so I could get it even. If you have directional fabric, check before sewing you have it so it faces the right way.

 4. With the circle on the top, sew a seam the whole way around. Take care to ease the fabric with your fingers. Clip into the seam allowane every 1/2 inch taking care not to cut your seam. Turn in the right way and finger press the seam to give it shape. Repeat with the other tube and circle.

5. Fold the straps in half  long ways and press with iron. Fold the long edges in about 1/4 inch and press.

6. Sew a seam along one short edge. Trim the folded corner and turn in the right way.

7. Fold the pressed edges under and sew an edge stitch along the long edges to close. Sew an edge stitch along the folded long edge to make it look pretty.

8. Now you need to fit the straps to the pouch and make sure they will be a sufficent length. To do this I centred the back seam of the pouch and then pressed it flat.  I marked the edges by pressing them with the iron. (The back of the pouch has the seam on it.)I pinned the straps on the back of the pouch inside the pressed mark with the raw edge of the straps closest to the top. Two straps on top of one another on one side, two on the other.

9. Now test the straps for length on your bike and adjust accordingly. Remember to take the 1/4" seam into account here. When you are happy, sew a basting stitch across your straps.

10. Turn the lining tube inside out and put it over the top of your tube with the basted straps. Tuck straps well away from the top. Sew around the top leaving a 3" (ish) hole. Turn in the right way and press. Sew an edge stitch all the way around to close the hole.

11. Fit your velcro or if you have one, use a snapper to attach snaps.

You're done! I hope your little one enjoys it as much as mine. Ax

I love that I sew

Shopping in op shops is so much fun when you can sew I think... Today Macie and I were out walking with friends and we came across our favourite op shop, The Red Cross Shop. I had a credit note to use up and as there was nothing there for me ;) I looked in the children's area for Macie and/or Cullen. I stumbled across this gorgeous wee top. Grey knit with white apples on it. SOOOO cute... I knew it was way way to big for Macie but with a couple of pins, a bit of straight stitching it would be transformed.

Home we came, Miss Macie delighted with her purchase. After trying it on for the correct sizing, we sat down together to sew 4 seams.

We bought in each side seam about 2 inches and trimmed it to about half an inch (so I can let it out a bit later).

Then we made the straps shorter in the fastest and easiest way...

Fold them down and resew the hem ;)

Lastly I need to move the gorgeous red buttons across on the front... when I can get it back off her!

Not bad for $7.50.. a size 10 top now a roomy size 3. Pretty neat eh?

Quick gift idea - a crown for a birthday boy or girl

This is a nice easy thing to make and can be customised any way you want!

Start by drawing a template.  You want it go approximately half way around the childs head - I wanted a higher peak in the middle and  a lower peak either side (this is on the fold)

Decide how you want your crown to look.  For mine, I did pink felt and then a smaller white felt (by simply moving the template down slightly) and then cut out a pink C to stitch on.

Here you can see it starting to take shape

Firstly hand stitch on the letter (or other embellishments - another idea could be the number the child is turning) onto the top piece of felt.

Pin all the way around

Next you want to make the stretchy strap for the back of the head.  Simply cut two pieces of fabric and sew long sides together, turn inside out into a tube.   For my tube (to fit a four year old) I used 19cm of elastic and you want approximately 1.5 inch wide fabric pieces with a 1/4" seam.

Next thread 3/4" wide elastic through the tube, when one end is flush with one edge of the fabric, sew with a 1/4"  seam.  Next continue pushing it to the other end, and again secure along the edge with a 1/4" seam.

Next, centre the tube between the edges of the crown (where it wraps around the head) and pin in place

Sew the whole way around the crown, making sure you secure your layers (if you have them)

Once finished, I hand sewed some wee pearls onto the peaks

Until next time

Melissa